Leatherwork: Design

«Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.»—William Morris

It has become common, in a world driven by commerce, to regularly change styles and designs; this forces consumers to regularly discard and replace much of what they have. Additionally, it is common for manufacturers to engineer defects into their goods, causing them to fail after a short period of time, and again forcing replacement.

As hand-workers, we find these practices repugnant.

Good design is an important part of craft, as are quality materials, and skill. All three of these combine to produce goods which can be passed from generation to generation, appreciated for both their usefulness and beauty.

Certain proportions recur throughout nature and human history, and are regarded by many cultures as being both attractive and useful. Whether used in architecture, book design, or other areas of material culture, we can draw important lessons from them when it comes to making things that are both useful & beautiful.

When looking for sound design in leather goods, much of the work has been done for us; we are convinced that such design reached a pinnacle in Europe , during the 1800s. Much equipment used by Swiss cavaliers, for example, still resonates strongly with observers today. These bags, pouches, and boxes were simple, utilitarian, and strong; many still are in use today, even after over a century of hard use. Similar aesthetics can be found from contemporaries around the world, from Europe to Japan.

Our work is proudly modeled as closely as possible on these superior designs. We cannot improve upon them in any significant way, save for occasional cosmetic changes. (The originals are, admittedly, quite masculine; we adjust that from time to time for the sake of a more delicate look.)